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Professional cycling features a number of premier races throughout the long season, but few—including the three Grand Tours—are as much anticipated as the Spring Classics. More than just muddy one-day bike races, the Spring Classics are the heart, soul, and guts of professional cycling. For a rider to stand atop the podium in any of the Spring Classics, he must possess much more than strong legs and the ability to overcome nasty weather. Every bit of mental and physical discipline must be mustered—and often a bit of luck as well.

Milan–San Remo

The Spring Classics race schedule starts in March with Milan–San Remo. First held in 1907, Milan–San Remo has challenged professional riders all but three years—and the missed years were because of two world wars. The race begins in Italy’s fashion capital, Milan, and heads south for an easy 100 kilometers before ascending Turchino Pass, the first of only a few relatively short climbs. After descending Turchino Pass, the race route meets and then runs along the beautiful Mediterranean coastline before riders tackle the Cipressa and El Poggio climbs, finally finishing in San Remo.

Since 1946, the race distance has gradually increased; today it’s almost 300 kilometers and the longest one-day professional bike race. That’s nearly seven hours in the saddle and often on soggy, compromised tarmac. Unlike Classics like Paris–Roubaix or Tour of Flanders, the routes of which somewhat vary from year to year, “la classica di Primavera” has remained relatively the same during its 100-year plus history.

Milan–San Remo is a sprinters race with only a few relatively short climbs—most notably the 3.7%-gradient Cipressa which was added in 1982, and the 4.1% El Poggio, which tops out just 6.2 kilometers before descending to the final 3k flat-finish. El Poggio wasn’t added to the race until 1960 so as to prevent the race from ending in a sprint—it didn’t work.

Spring 2010 saw Spaniard Oscar Freire outsprint Belgium’s Tom Boonen for the win. Other riders always worth watching are Mark Cavendish (GBR, 2009 winner), Thor Hushovd (NOR), Heinrich Haussler (GER) and Alessandro Petacchi.

In 1976 the Cannibal (Eddy Merckx) won Milan–San Remo for the seventh time, the record in one Classic. But come on, Merckx is the greatest cyclist in history (sorry Lance fans). The famous Fausto Coppi won Milan–San Remo for the third time in 1949, and 1988 and ’89 saw French rider Laurent Fignon take home back-to-back wins. The tough, gritty Irishman Sean Kelly also joined the list of winners in 1986. More recent winners include the likes of Erik Zabel (GER), Mark Cavendish (GBR), Alessandro Petacchi (ITA), Fabian Cancellara (SUI) and Oscar Freire (SPA).

In 2004 Erik Zabel lifted his arms to celebrate what would have been his fifth Milan–San Remo win—only to have Spaniard Oscar Freire sneak by at the line and beat him—that’s gotta be embarrassing.

In 1910 Italian Luigi Ganna finished in second place only to be disqualified when officials discovered he had traveled the closing stages in a car—just thinking about that is funny.

Milan–San Remo was Mario Cipollini’s last professional European race—we miss the Lion King.

Italians have the most victories at 50—after all, it’s their race.

Tour of Flanders

The second gem in our Spring Classic summary is Belguim’s Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen). Weather for the Tour of Flanders is historically unfavorable. Watch riders suffer through rain, sleet, and wind—all while negotiating some of the worst (or best, depending on your perspective) cobbles seen in the Spring Classics. The rapid succession of hills, combined with the body-rattling pavé proves physically and mentally draining—and often by the crest of the Muur, the punishing race has whittled the field down to less than a handful of podium chasers.

First held in 1913, the Tour of Flanders was held on the same day as Milan San–Remo until it got moved to April after the end of WWII. Before the schedule change, most pros chose to ride Milan–San Remo rather than the Tour of Flanders—partially explaining the overwhelming amount of Belgium wins pre-WWII.

The Tour of Flanders has seen numerous Belgian starting points over the years, with the 2010 route beginning in the northern Belgian city of Brugge. The route winds northwest to the North Sea, then south, then east where it crisscrosses the Flemish Ardennes (remember the Battle of the Bulge?) before finishing in the city of Ninove.

The Tour of Flanders is won on the climbs—short, steep, and mostly cobbled. The 2010 route features 15 climbs, 9 of them cobbled. The most famous are the final two cobbled climbs, named the Muur (Muur van Geraardsbergen) and the Bosberg. The 1,100-meter-long Muur has a 9% average gradient, and the 1,000-meter-long Bosberg averages 5%, with this year’s race covering nearly 259 kilometers.

The 2010 race was nothing short of spectacular when Fabian Cancellara (SUI) attacked favorite and two-time Flanders winner Tom Boonen (BEL) on the Muur (Cancellara didn’t even get out of the saddle when he dropped the hammer on the second-to-last climb), opening up a 15-second gap which Boonen couldn’t close down.

Again, the Belgians own the Tour of Flanders with 66 wins. Only four riders (three Belgians and one Italian) have won three times. The most recent three-time winner was Belgian Johan Museeuw in 1993, ’95, and ’98. Belgian Stijn Devolder won in 2008 and 2009, and Tom Boonen saw back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006.

Due to torrential rain and cold temperatures, the 1985 Tour of Flanders saw only 24 riders (out of 173 starters) cross the finish line, with Belgian Eric Vanderaerden clinching the spectacular victory. Really, as if winning a Classic isn’t impressive enough, to win in such awful conditions that only 24 professional riders can even reach the finish line—that’s legendary.

In 1969 Eddy Merckx won the Tour of Flanders by a whopping five-and-a-half minutes after an early attack on the field. The Cannibal didn’t see another Tour of Flanders victory again until 1975.

Paris–Roubaix

Whereas the Tour of Flanders is won on the hills, Paris–Roubaix (Hell of the North) is a race won on the cobbles. The first race was held in 1896—that’s right, 1896—making Paris–Roubaix one of the oldest bike races in history. The race hasn’t started in Paris since 1967—it now begins in Compiè gne, where the route follows some of the more famous cobbles seen in the Classics, before finishing 260 kilometers later in front of thousands of fans in the Roubaix Velodrome.

Paris–Roubaix originally followed the main road from Paris to Lille. However, French roads have dramatically improved over the last century, thus drastically decreasing nostalgic pavé found along the Paris–Roubaix route. As a solution to the dwindling sections of consistent pavé, organizers revised the route to zigzag the French countryside in order to incorporate remaining sections.

Like the other Classic races, weather plays a key role in a rider’s success at Paris–Roubaix. Often the Hell of the North is plagued either by rain, mud, melted snow, or hail—or a combination of each. Many famous cycling photos have been taken at Paris–Roubaix; some feature riders so covered in mud, only the whites of their eyes are recognizable.

After winning in 1981, Bernard Hinault (FRA) said, “Paris–Roubaix est une connerie,” or “Paris–Roubaix is bullshit”—he was referring to the uncompromising nature of the course. Conquering the course is easily as difficult as defeating the competition. The cobbled route through the French countryside is so brutal, many riders find themselves dropping out—some, like the great Big George Hincapie ended his day in tears on the roadside. Hincapie’s steertube had snapped just below the stem, which resulted in a nasty crash—testament to cobblestones’ ability to inflict pain while literally rattling bikes to pieces.

Who wouldn’t want to see Big George Hincapie (USA) bring home a win this year? Placing second in 2005 and consistently in the top ten, don’t ever count Hincapie out. Once again, Tom Boonen is always a favorite, having inched out Hincapie in 2005 for the win, and then back to back wins in 2008 and ’09. Also watch for Thor Hushovd (NOR), Stijn Devolder (BEL), Fabian Cancellara (SUI), or even Heinrich Haussler (GER), assuming he’s able to return healthy from an earlier injury. Press-time update: Cancellara won the 2010 race.

Any Paris–Roubaix win is notable, no matter what the circumstances; we’ll just briefly mention a few winners. Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL) won Paris–Roubaix the fourth time in 1977, a record for individual number of wins. Other multiple winners include Rik van Looy (BEL, 3), Eddy Merckx (BEL, 3), Francesco Moser (ITA, 3) and Tom Boonen (BEL,3).

The first Paris–Roubaix in 1896 was held on Easter Sunday—much to the dismay of local clergy who opposed racing on a Sunday. Fortunately, a compromise was made to hold a special mass for cyclists—disaster averted.

In 1991 Greg LeMond used one of the first Rock Shox suspension forks in his Paris-–Roubaix podium pursuit—that’s right, LeMond was country before country was cool. What happened, Greg?

In 1983 Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix (friends of the race) was founded. Based in France but open to participants around the world, the group has more than 7,000 members dedicated to upholding the cobblestone integrity of Paris–Roubaix. The group raises money to maintain and repair sections of pavé in Paris–Roubaix, thus ensuring the race doesn’t become a flat, smooth sprint across the French countryside—after all, this ain’t supposed to be a walk in the park.

Liege–Bastogne–Liege

Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge, or La Doyenne (“the grand lady” in French) as it’s sometimes referred to as, was first held in 1892 and is the oldest bike race of them all. Several years the race has seen snow, rain, or both. One of the Ardennes Classics series races, today the one-day Lieè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge winner receives 20,000 euro—a far cry from professional golf winnings.

Starting in Liè ge and heading 90 kilometers southwest to Bastogne, the race then travels back to Liè ge through the Ardennes along a northeastern belt-route. The seldom-flat, 260-kilometer Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge is littered with climbs and descents ranging from 4% gradient all the way to the 11% Côte de Saint-Nicolas—less than five kilometers from the finish.

Watch for 2008’s winner Alejandro Valverde (ESP) as he goes for his third Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge win—provided Valverde’s recent suspension doesn’t go global and keep him out of the running. Andy Schleck (LUX) threw down a decisive win in 2009 and remains a favorite to repeat this year. If you’re looking to root for the underdog, consider cheering for the Frenchman Thomas Voeckler. Remember 2004 when Voeckler spent 10 days in the maillot jaune—Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge may be a longshot for Voeckler, but he’s surprised us before.

The Cannibal (Eddy Merckx) has won Liè ge-Bastogne-Liè ge a record five times. Legends like Jacques Anquetil (FRA), Roger De Vlaeminck (BEL), Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly (IRE), and Paolo Bettini (ITA) also etched their names in history by winning Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge. The only American to win Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge was Tyler Hamilton in 2003—we miss watching Tyler race.

In 1892 Bastogne was chosen as the turnaround point because it was as far as race organizers could accurately check riders before returning to Liè ge to record the finish.

Although Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge is the oldest race by date, it has not been held the most number of times—2010 will be the 96th edition of the race. It’s behind Paris–Roubaix (108th edition this year).

In 1980 Bernard Hinault (FRA) won the Liè ge–Bastogne–Liè ge in some of the most miserable racing conditions to date, also referred to as neige-Bastogne-neige (snow-Bastogne-snow). Conditions were so bad that, during the race, Hinault told a teammate he planned on dropping out. Hinault’s teammate urged him to continue—he did and won by nearly 10 minutes.

The Spring Classic race schedule is sure to keep you amped for the upcoming season. So sit back, relax, crack a brew, and watch some of cycling’s best dish out a world of hurt to the rest of the pro peloton—and if you do have the opportunity to travel to Europe to witness a Classic firsthand, don’t take a cobble home with you for a souvenir—after all, one less cobble might make the race easier, and we sure don’t want that to happen.